Rocca di Frassinello

Rocca di Frassinello is situated in the Maremma, quasi on the ancient Roman road Via Aurelia, between Grosseto and Follonica in the northern hills. Or for wine connoisseurs: between Bolgheri in the north and Scansano in the south. It is a joint venture of the publisher Paolo Panerai, who has already made Castellare di Castellina in Chianti one of the best quality companies in the Chianti Classico area, and the Rothschild family (Domaines Baron de Rothschild-Lafite).

A new vineyard was created from five smaller farms. Almost 500 hectares of land belong to it today, on 90 hectares wine was planted little by little. Paolo Panerai and his competent advisors, above all chief oenologist Alessandro Cellai, recognized that unique conditions meet here in the hills. On the one hand, similar soil formations as in Castellina, which was important to the Sangiovese lover Panerai, on the other hand, 3-5 degrees higher average temperatures, which allows the French varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Syrah to mature better. And third, the constant wind that flows through the Via Aurelia like a canyon from the sea during the day and provides cool wind at night from the sheltering mountains in the north. This causes morning dew or rain to dry quickly and the vines are hardly at risk of disease.

The collaboration with the professors of the University of Turin for the research of the Sangiovese clones (here called Sangioveto) is continued on Rocca di Frassinello and many rare clone selections were replanted. The idea, however, is to combine the best of Sangiovese with the best of the French grape varieties for which Bolgheri is famous. And this succeeds quite masterfully and due to the lime and ferrous soils even quite unique.

"Sailing brings the people' at the same time" you could change an old saying. Because all the people involved in the project are also enthusiastic sailors. Paolo Panerai and Eric de Rothschild even get involved with the legendary America's Cup, the oldest still driven and probably most spectacular regatta in the world. There are countless articles written by Paolo Panerai, all of which have some relation to sailing, yes, he even compared winemaking to participation in America.'s Cup and finally barriques were once the transport containers with which wine was usually delivered on sailing ships.

This circle of friends also includes the star architect Renzo Piano, whose father, by the way, was known for his excellent wines in Piedmont. Piano designed the wine cellar worth seeing in the Maremma. With the winegrower's knowledge of internal processes, a true masterpiece was created whose centre, the maturation room for the barriques, looks like a modern concert hall.

One could easily write a book about Paolo Panerai and his friends, his wineries and his wines, unfortunately there is not enough space here. But we promise you, if you dedicate yourself to the wines of Rocca di Frassinello, you will not regret it, but you will spontaneously feel like in the hills of Tuscany - surrounded by spicy sea breeze and Tuscan sun! SUPERIORE.DE